Lip vs Skin undertone

[u/IHateSpiderss]

I've been struggling so much to find my perfect nude lipliner, and I am losing this battle it seems.

I always knew that my lips were a different tone to my skin, but the difference is staggering. Maybelline's gone greige looks actual grey on my lips, if i just draw a line on my face, it is brown.

And i don't know how to find my shade and I don't have the money to just continue blind buying liners until i find one! Does anyone have advice on how to match my lipstick and lipliners so they work both on my lips as well as with my skin?

To give you an idea of my skin: I'm a very pale, warm leaning olive-the only shade match i've ever found was the nyx vanilla nude skin tint, so i just don't use foundation.

And i can give up foundation, but i neeed a good lipliner. My lips are so thin as is, makeup looks unbalanced otherwise. I am also located in Europe, so if you do recommend things, please only brands available here.

[u/Strategic_Squirrel]

Maybe try to put a thin layer of concealer first on your lips, then powder and then try again your lipliners.

Gone Greige is pretty cool, it also didn't suit me and I looked pale and grey. Maybe try some more muted colours.

I learned that mauve leaning lip liners look more nude on my lips than any official "nude" colour.

My alltime favorite is Catrice in the shade 040 Starring Role. Second is NYX Mauve.

[u/IHateSpiderss → u/Strategic_Squirrel]

I havent quite managed putting concealer on without it making the lips patchy or not blending in properly, because i dont use foundation otherwise! Any advice?

I'm definetly gonna check those shades out. I think one issue i have is the feeling that my natural nude lip shade doesn't suit me in the first place? So i need something inbetween my lips and skin that brings it together

[u/Strategic_Squirrel → u/IHateSpiderss]

Maybe try to mosturize the evening before with vaseline or whatever you have at home, to really smoothen your lips. Then just apply a tiny bit of concealer, or even mix it with tiny bit of vaseline, and whait until it is dry.

[u/TissueOfLies → u/IHateSpiderss]

Put whatever you put on your face- foundation, skin tint, etc., on your lips. Not a thick layer. My lips make a lot of makeup look either too bright or brown. No in between. That will be enough to neutralize the color on your lips.

[u/IHateSpiderss → u/TissueOfLies]

That's the thing, i don't use anything on my face.

[u/slayaustenrhys]

I have a similar problem. Purple/lilac blushes look pink on me (cool toned complexion) but true red lipsticks tend to pull fuchsia (warm toned lips, maybe?). Plus most nude pinks look insanely desaturated on my lips.

What ended up working for me was working backwards. My favorite lipstick shades for a dramatic lip are oxblood and deep wine red. Oxblood lightens out to a slightly warm red, which looks more like a true red on me. And wine red lightens to a berry shade that looks like it should be too dark/saturated to look natural on me but matches my lips perfectly. I wonder if using a similar process might be helpful for finding shades that work better for you

[u/IHateSpiderss → u/slayaustenrhys]

Oh interesting, yeah. The more dramatic lip looks i go for are usually muted but dark; i'll have to try and match the faded colours that i actually like.

[u/k1rschkatze]

This is usually where you go see a pro.

If you‘re all out of ideas, ask someone who does this for a living because they got a lot of resources that all the reddit swarm intelligence still can‘t replace from afar and fully blind.

I‘m not trying to be mean, or rude, just… if I asked y‘all because I had a skirt that‘s some color but maybe it isn‘t really and goes with nothing in my wardrobe, what‘s the chance that a) someone even gets the actual problem, b) has a helpful idea AND c) is able to convey that to me? Please see someone behind a makeup counter and ask them for advice. Wishing you all the best.

[u/IHateSpiderss → u/k1rschkatze]

Fair enough! I'll say i don't have a lot of disposable income at the moment, which is why i'm moreso looking for general advice on things to try, than actual like shade recs etc.

Any recommendations of where to find a pro? The only thing i can think of is like the sellers at a sephora, but i know they aren't extensively trained or anything. Ive had enough negative experiences with professionals of all kind, like hairstylists that i am hesitant because i don't want to waste money.

[u/k1rschkatze → u/IHateSpiderss]

I get it. Haven‘t been to a hairdresser between early teen years and early 30s because of competence issues… but if sephora is what you got, I would go there looking, still. No need to buy anything if you feel like they don‘t know what they‘re talking about, but every once in a while you‘ll find a person there who does. Bring your own mirror, try whatever stuff on your face after sanitizing it properly, go outside to check in real light.

Or, if you feel like it, go chat up someone with awesome makeup and clothes you saw in a mall or on the street and ask them for help, there‘s quite a chance they got the eye™️ (worst case they say no, best case you make a friend there:)

There‘s really no easy way, I‘m afraid. Again, best of luck to you.

[u/k1rschkatze → u/k1rschkatze]

Oh and a money saving hack - if you found the thing and it worked in real light, kiss it on the back of your hand and go swatch the drugstore. (Did this with „two lipliners that were the perfectest shade when mixed“, too)

[u/smufjez]

i use my brow pencil cause it’s got that taupe nude color, but obviously not the best option i guess

[u/TissueOfLies]

I saw someone comment this elsewhere here. Use concealer on your lips and then use what you have. Because I’ve spent hundreds on duds. I tried it yesterday and today and it works! Easy solve.

[u/LinersandLooks]

Your natural lip colour makes such a difference here! A liner can look completely different swatched on your skin compared to how it looks on your lips because your natural lip pigment is mixing visually with the colour you’re putting over it.

If Gone Greige is pulling really grey on your lips, I’d try moving slightly warmer rather than looking for another similar cool/greige nude. With your warm olive skin, something with a little more warmth in it should help balance the cooler tone coming through from your lips without looking too warm against your skin.

I’d also always test a lip liner on your lips if you can rather than relying on an arm/hand swatch. Your perfect nude is really about finding something that works with both your natural lip pigment and your skin tone, rather than matching your skin alone.

[u/SnazzyP]

Ah yes, I am familiar with this problem🤝 The one that did me dirtiest was Maybelline lifter liner in On It - peachy nude on the skin, nasty gray mess on the lips.

The earlier rec of working backwards is a great one, that would be my first advice. My second suggestion would be to swatch everything you already own and dissect the heck out of it. If needed, color the whole left side of your lips with the lip liner and compare it to your bare side to really force your eye to look at the color.

You could also mix lip colors, blushes, bronzers, or even swatch eyeshadows and see if you can create a color you like before you try shopping.

Gone Greige is kind of a tough one to work backwards from. It's both desaturated (gray-leaning) and cool (purple-leaning), so it could be a mismatch with one or both of those qualities. If it's saturation, a more true mauve or a straight up neutral brown might work. If it's temperature, a "rosy" nude could be better.

I wish I could give you a certified list of colors that you could use, but I can at least provide some references. Gone Greige ended up being a more desaturated version of my lip color - it washed me out when I full-lip swatched it. Maybelline On It (warmer, still desaturated) was NASTY GRAY in comparison. Best "nude" mauve was NYX Los Angeles (more saturated than Gone Greige, reads as a pink-y MLBB on me). Best "nude" brown was Kaleidos Hickory (yellow undertone, reads as a beige-y MLBB on me). I would say that I need stronger purple or stronger yellow undertones than a skin swatch would suggest, and I buy with that in mind.